Morning Light
by Skye Evans
Summary: What if Bella had chosen Jacob instead of Edward the day of the fight? What if, now 24 years later, the Cullens have returned and warn the Black's about a threat to Jacob and Bella's daughter? Alternate ending to Eclipse; BellaXJacob EdwardXOC
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: I actually wrote the beginning of this over a year ago, probably March of last year, after I finished reading Eclipse. I'd completely forgotten about it until a few days ago when I found it again. This story is as if when Jacob kissed Bella in the woods-either before or during the battle, I can't remember- and she had decided to be with him, meaning there never was a Breaking Dawn. Enjoy :)**

_"In this moment, it felt as though we were the same person. His pain had always been and would always be my pain-now his joy was my joy. I felt joy, too, and yet his happiness was somehow also pain. Almost tangible- it burned against my skin like acid, a slow torture. _

_For one brief, never-ending second, an entirely different path expanded behind the lids of my tear-wet eyes. As if I were looking through the filter of Jacob's thoughts, I could see exactly what I was going to give up, exactly what this new self-knowledge would not save me from losing. I could see Charlie and Renee mixed into a strange collage with Billy and Sam and La Push. I could see years passing, and meaning something as they passed, changing me. I could see the enormous red-brown wolf that I loved, always standing as protector if I needed him. For the tiniest fragment of that second, I saw the bobbing heads of two small, black-haired children, running away from me in the familiar forest. When they disappeared," _I realized that was what I really wanted. I didn't want to give up that, even for Edward whom I loved so much. I couldn't hurt Charlie and Renee like I knew I'd have to if I went with Edward. And even though I'd never thought much about being a mother, those two black-haired children were something Edward could never give me. And I began to want them more than I had ever thought possible.

And Jacob, how I could I leave my devoted friend, the one who'd spent all this time trying to make me realize that yes, I did love him, too? My heart was split in two, and even though I'd once thought I knew exactly what I wanted- a future as an immortal, forever with my Edward- I was confused now, unsure of what to do or who to turn to.

"Jacob," I whispered. He turned to look at me. "I can't leave you."

"I know," he smiled. "I know."

**Disclaimer: The excerpt above is from Eclipse page 528-529 by Stephenie Meyer. She owns everything whilst I own only my ideas and theories. **


	2. Codes

**Twenty-four years later….**

**Told in the perspective of Bella and Jacob's daughter, Elita. **

I awoke early in the morning, just after daybreak. The pale early morning sun shone through the off-white lacy curtains on my bedroom window. I pulled the curtains to the side and peered outside. Playing roughly on the lawn were two oversized, russet-colored wolves. To any normal human being, this would've been strange enough to call La Push animal control or the Forks police department.

But I am not normal and live a far from normal life, something that was difficult for me to accept in my early adolescent years. This story begins as my life became even stranger.

The two wolves on the back lawn were my brothers, Billy and Charlie. They were werewolves, creatures most believed to be mythical, but I knew better. Billy-the bigger of the two and the elder- saw me at the window and they both began to phase back as I waved. They smiled at me, once back in their human form and fully clothed, and walked to the back door.

I looked over at my twin sister, Alice, sleeping peacefully in the bed next to mine and decided not to wake her. I headed down the stairs and could smell bacon sizzling and eggs frying in the kitchen.

"All you guys ever do is eat!" I whined to my jokester of a brother, Billy, as he wolfed down bacon.

"All you ever do is complain!" He shot back, a boyish grin settling on his manly features.

"I'm not complaining, simply observing. It makes me sick to watch you eat so much."

"We _are _werewolves," Charlie replied, laughing. The term made me shudder. Even after all this time, I never used the term, except for the rare occasion in my thoughts. "Oh come on, Little Sis. When are you going to stop freaking out over what we are?"

"I'm not freaking out," I said, my eyes wide in defiance. "I'm just… cold," I improvised. I regretted it as soon as I said it, though, because the moment I did I was bombarded by two 108 degree bodies. I began to sweat. "Cut it out," I told them, pushing them away. "Save it for your girlfriends."

"Leave Ellie alone, boys," our father commanded as he walked into the kitchen, a smile on his handsome features. "Haven't you learned better than to say cold in this family? Elita, surely you of all people should know better," he laughed.

"I know, I know, Daddy," I grinned, pecking him on the cheek as he passed by me.

My father, Jacob Black, hardly looked any different than he had at sixteen, save for a wrinkle or two and a few grays at his temples. No, it was my mother, Bella Swan-Black, that had aged since her teen years. Her hair was shorter than I knew it had been once, the dark mahogany color sprinkled with salt and pepper. Her eyes had lost the beautiful sparkle they had once held and her face was lined with wrinkles due to her constant fretting and worrying. She smiled a lot but I had noticed when I was about ten that it never reached her eyes. I had never understood the reason behind that, but I was sure there was one.

My mother walked in that morning, looking quite alarmed and disheveled. "Morning, Mom," I called and my brothers followed suit.

"Good morning, Ellie and Billy and Charlie," she told us and then turned to our father. "Jake," she said wearily to him. "I need to talk to you. In the living room."

"Okay, Bells," mmy father replied, his expression dissolving into his seldom used solemn air. "Boys, would you mind going to the store to get some milk?" His eyebrows rose and my brothers, suddenly somber as well, nodded quickly. That had to be a code for something. But what?

My parents wondered into the living room, leaving me alone to finish my breakfast and ponder about what could possibly be going on. I finished my bacon and went back upstairs to wake Alice.

"Alice…Al," I crooned as I shook her awake.

"What?" she asked, grumpily, pulling her covers up over her face.

"I was bored and figured I'd wake you up." Alice groaned and turned away from me. "Plus, Mom and Dad are being all serious and secretive and the boys went out on some secret errand Dad told them in code."

Alice's curious nature got the best of her and she sat up, her eyebrows rising until I could no longer see them under her black, shiny bangs. She, like Billy and Charlie, had received the black hair, dark skin, and small black eyes of our ancestors, the Quileute Indians. I, on the other hand, took after my mother with her same pale skin, wavy reddish-brown hair. But I'd somehow gotten the blue eyes of my grandmother on my mom's side, Renee. Other than my eyes, I was a spitting image of my mother at sixteen.

"Come on, Ellie. Let's go see what the fuss is about," Alice said, grabbing my hand and pulling me to the door.

"They're in the living room, so be quiet and we can listen from the stairs," I chided. We sat on the top of the stairs, in the little spot we knew they couldn't see us, even though we could see anyone in the living room perfectly.

"Jacob," my mother said anxiously. "It was Esme on the phone. The Volturi are coming. You remember how I told you all those years ago that they wanted me? Well, they still did until they realized that I'm not longer eighteen and am a grown woman with a family. I've lost all appeal to them. But now, now they want Elita. Alice saw it. Ellie has more potential to them than I ever had and they believe she'll make a nice trade off," my mother was shaking. I'd seen her vulnerable before, but this… this was too much to handle. She was worried sick over me and I had no idea what was going on.

Alice and I glanced at each other, unsure of what we were hearing. It still sounded as though they were talking in some sort of cipher.

"If those damn bloodsuckers ever come near our family," Daddy threatened but was cut off by Mom.

"Jacob, the Cullens are coming to _help _us, to protect us. Billy and Charlie phased because of the Cullens and Volturi's reappearance. We should've seen the signs…" Bella sighed. "Do you think you can get all the old pack together? Quil and Embry are always up for a good fight. I'm sure they'd be in."

"Sure sure, Bella. I'll go call them now," Jacob turned to go out the front door when the doorbell rang. He looked through the peephole. "It's the leeches- I mean, Cullens. Sit down, love. I'll get the door."

_Author's note: So what do you think? Oh and just to let you know, the name Elita means chosen one( which will make more sense in the coming chapters) so it's not just some random name Bella chose to name her child. Hope you enjoyed this! _


	3. Visitors

Jacob walked to the door, cursing to himself quietly, and opened the door. Alice and I leaned forward trying to catch a glimpse of our visitors.

"Oh my God," Alice whispered and I elbowed her to shut up. As the people walked in, I was able to see their faces.

_Oh my God is right, _I sent Alice with my mind. We had a sort of telepathic connection between the two of us. Our freaky twin thing, we called it. No one knew about it but us.

There were seven people, coming into our living room. And each and everyone was stunning. The first couple were probably in their mid-twenties, thirty at most. The man was average height, with blond hair neatly combed back and an intelligent look gleaming in his copper eyes. His arm was wrapped around a woman with loose caramel-colored curls that fell just below her shoulders. She looked at my mother with a very maternal expression.

"Bella! We've missed you so," she told my mother, gathering her into a hug.

"I've missed you too, Esme," my mother said awkwardly and attempted a smile.

In the next pairing to walk in was a man taller and more muscular than any man I'd ever seen in my life-wolves included. He wore a mischievous grin upon his lips and had dark hair that fell into his devastatingly gorgeous black eyes. His significant other was the prettiest girl I'd ever seen. She was about eighteen or nineteen years old, with beautiful blonde waves that cascaded to her waist. She walked with an overconfident air, as if she knew she were the most beautiful woman since Helen, and she laughed at something her brawny man said. The next couple was different. Though both quite beautiful, they weren't nearly as show-offy. The girl was incredibly tiny, barely five feet, and so skinny, it would've been sickening if it weren't for her face. Her face glowed radiantly, her pale skin shiny and perfect. Her eyes were the same topaz color as some of the others, but they seemed wiser than the others-more knowing. Her hair was spiky and black as midnight. Her partner had all the charm of a southern gentleman, with his sandy hair neatly trimmed and his posture poker straight. He smiled and I felt an overwhelming calm wash over me.

The seventh was the most handsome of the men. He walked slowly to our living room, hesitant- as if scared somehow. He kept glancing at my mother disbelievingly, his gold eyes wanting something different from what they saw. He had copper hair that was very messy and a strong jaw. His features were chiseled to perfection. I could feel myself want to be closer to him. It was some sort of crazy gravitational force, but I felt like I needed to be next to him. I heard myself sigh softly.

_I don't trust them_, Alice blurted into my thoughts.

_Why not? Mom said they were coming to help us-me._

_So? They're too good to be true. Just look at them, Ellie, and tell me they don't scare you, _Alice looked over at me, with that I-know-you-better-than-you-know-yourself look she gave me all the time when I said something she thought was preposterous.

But the thing was I wasn't scared of them. I didn't understand why Ally was. They were dazzling, sure, but they didn't seem dangerous or threatening in any way to me.

My father shut the door and went to stand in the living room. My mother sat on a loveseat across from the two big couches that our guests were occupying.

"Jacob, Bella, it's wonderful to see you both again," the older blond man broke the eerie silence, causing Alice to grip my knee tightly. He was obviously the leader, though he couldn't have been that much older than the rest. "Unfortunately it's on such grim terms. Why don't you bring your daughters-Elita and Alice, correct?- down here so we can explain everything to them?"

"Allie, Ellie, come downstairs please," my mother called weakly and my father squeezed her shoulder. We waited a few seconds before heading down the stairs. As we came into view, I saw the bronze-haired boy sink in his seat looking awestruck. I knew it was because of Alice. With her long toned legs and shiny black hair, she tended to have that affect on boys. I took a seat beside my mother and Alice sat next to me. Her whole mind screamed her fear and her body was so tensed cramped next to mine. Her eyes never left the strangers.

Sitting down, I was able to catch a closer look at the strangers. They all had purple bags under their eyes, making it look as though they hadn't slept in a really long time. Decades, centuries even. They all looked quite sleep-deprived but still acted quite alert.

"Oh, girls, you are so beautiful," the maternal woman, called Esme, exclaimed and I was taken aback. This woman-with the face of an angel- just called us beautiful? It seemed backward.

Her partner squeezed her hand and began talking. "Girls, let me introduce us. We are the Cullens." He looked expectantly at us, as if hoping we would recognize the name. We didn't.

_Cullens? _I asked Alice.

_Beats me,_ she replied.

"We're, well, you're mother's old friends. I'm Carlisle, this is my wife Esme," he motioned to the motherly one, "Emmett," the large dark-haired man, "Rosalie," the beautiful blonde girl, "Jasper," the gentlemanly sandy-haired one, "Alice," the perky tiny girl. I thought it weird that she shared a name with my sister. They had to be about the same age as each other, and Alice was such an uncommon, old-fashioned name. No one ever heard it being used anymore. Our Alice had been named for a good friend of my mother's. I wondered if the other Alice had been named for that woman too.

He stopped before introducing the bronze-haired boy, as if uncertain how to approach telling us who he was. "And this," Carlisle cleared his throat, "is Edward."

Carlisle looked at me, then my mother, and then back at Edward. Everyone else's gaze, my mother and Edward's included, remained upon me. I watched him curiously. He was so still, too still. He hardly even appeared to be breathing. He was almost unhuman-like. Inhuman, I guess you could stay. He looked at me solemnly, but also inquisitively, watching how I would react to him. In fact, none of the Cullens appeared to be breathing. They all looked… dead, in a way.

"We are… different from you," Carlisle continued. "I wonder," he smiled, "can you guess what we are?"

Suddenly, memories flooded back to me, of cousins and friends and my siblings telling ghost stories around a camp fire at first beach. It used to take a lot to scare us descendants of wolves, but there was one thing that always got us. Our one true enemy. I gasped, staring at the peculiar people before us. They were it, why Alice was so tense, why my father had been angry-called them bloodsuckers.

That was when I became scared. I felt my face drain of color, as the understanding came upon me. The word flashed across my mind and everything went black.

**Author's note: sorry this took so long to put up! I actually started writing it a few days ago, but then my computer shut down on me and I hadn't saved it, so I lost everything. Which really sucked. And then I was pretty discouraged so it took me awhile to get back to it. But the next chapter should be coming soon as well! ~Skye**


	4. Understanding

I awoke to my mother and Carlisle's faces inches above mine. My father and Allie were close behind. The other, I gulped, vampires remained still on the couch, their focus on me.

"Mom," I croaked, her anxious eyes on me. "They-these people- they're v-"

Emmett cut me off with a laugh. "Vegetarian vampires. "

I had been right. Vampires. But "Vegetarian vampires?"

Carlisle smiled warmly. "We prefer animals to people, in order to preserve human life." He launched into his story, a tale of sorrow and triumph.

"So you didn't want to be a monster? You decided to feed on animals, instead? That's pretty cool, I guess." Despite my common sense telling me to be frightened for my life, as Allie clearly was, I was perfectly calm and not an ounce scared. I liked these people, at least most of them. Alice, Emmett, Esme, and Carlisle seemed nice enough. I wasn't too sure of the other three. Rosalie was currently glaring as my mother and I hugged, Jasper looked tense and doubtful, and Edward, god-like Edward, I was so inexplicably drawn to him. I didn't know quite how to feel about that.

"Elita," Carlisle spoke again, "the reason we are here is because some, regular vampires are after you. The Volturi are sort of like the vampire royalty and they collect humans and vampires that they think have potential use for them. Many years ago, your mother and Edward made some promises to them, that your mother-who had grand potential as one of us- would become a vampire in the near future. But instead, she chose a different path. However, being as Bella is no longer eighteen, she has lost most of the allure she once had to them. They'll want you now, in replacement. You, and probably Alice, will be changed by them into vampires and your mother and brothers and father will become their dinner. We've come as protection."

"Okay," I said slowly, my voice showing all the bravado I was trying to make myself feel. It was like Allie and I had traded places. Once I had been the timid twin, scared of my own shadow. She was always so much braver, much more extraverted. But now, she was cowering and I was filled with her courage that I'd always been jealous of. "What do we need to do? Should I pack? Do we go into hiding? I'm ready for anything."

Carlisle laughed, "You _really _are just like your mother was. They are planning on making their trip in about month's time, so we have a little time to plan. They will probably send Jane," he looked at my mother, whose face flooded with panic as she held me tighter, "and their newest addition, Meri. All others will be bodyguards to them. If absolutely necessary, we can call on Tanya, but I feel like I've asked enough of her already and haven't been able to repay her. I don't really want the wolves to help, it's too risky, but if we are desperate, you guys can assist," Carlisle nodded at my father.

"Carlisle, what make the Volturi so powerful? Do they have special powers or something?" I asked. It sounded dumb, but I wanted to know exactly what I was up against.

"Yes, they do. Marcus can read minds through touch, Jane can inflict terrible mental pain by just staring at a person, Alec can make you feel nothing at all, and the new girl, Meri, can influence a person's decisions in order to make them do whatever she wants. None of these work on you however."

"Why don't they work on me?" I questioned, but changed the subject, when I became to worried about the answer. "Do you have special powers?"

"We're not sure why they don't work on you, Elita. They didn't work on your mother either and still don't, which is part of why she had so much appeal to them. I don't have a special power, but Edward can read people's minds, Alice can see the future, and Jasper can affect the emotions of people around him. Edward cannot read your mind, but Alice can see the future about you. We don't know if Jasper's gift works for you," Carlisle said.

"So-so I'm a freak?" my voice cracked.

Edward laughed at my question, startling me, and my mother smiled. "Elita, your mother asked me that exact same question when I told her about our gifts," Edward grinned, his voice smooth and alluring. "My reply was and still is: I tell you I can read minds and you're worried you're the _freak_?" he shook his head. "No, Elita, you're special that's all."

His statement brought a blush to my cheeks. "Fine, so I'm special," I said, trying to sound indifferent to his sweet tone. "What else is different about me?"

"Well, your connection with your sister, Alice," Carlisle said and we both exchanged a glance. No one knew about our telepathy secret but us. "Yes, our Alice foresaw it," Alice Cullen grinned brightly. "As well as the way you are so intoned to the intentions of others." Sweat beaded up on my forehead. I'd never told anyone, not even Allie, about that. How I would sometimes I would get a flash from classmates or friends or even cashiers at the grocery store- about their genuine intentions. It had always scared me even though it was no more than a simple understanding of their true motives. I guess that was part of why I wasn't so scared of the Cullens- I could tell they meant well and wouldn't hurt me.

"How did you … know about that?" I whispered, as my parents and sister looked at me puzzled.

"Our Alice foresaw that as well," Carlisle told me, his topaz eyes shining with pride at his… daughter?

"Okay, so what can we do?" I asked. My mostly boring, monotonous life had suddenly transformed into an exciting adventure. This was what I had always wished for, for something to happen to me that would throw me into the spot of heroine, that would turn my life upside down. I didn't know whether to be excited that I was finally getting the quest into unknown that I'd always hoped for, or to be terrified that some of the most powerful vampires in the world wanted to take my life away and add me to their collection.

"Well," Jasper said, talking for the first time. His voice had a nice even tone to it; it flowed seamlessly and made me feel a bit more comfortable. "We need to see if my gift works for you. Because if it doesn't, you're even more appealing to the Volturi than we'd originally guessed. So, I'm going to send you a wave of emotions and we'll see if you block them, or if you react like any one else in the room would."

I nodded, feeling a bit light-headed. Then I braced myself for the worst. But nothing happened. Jasper was concentrating hard, I could tell, and for a second, I could feel myself getting a bit angry, but it was only slight. Then I felt slightly happy, but nothing overwhelming. From the look on Jasper's face, I should've felt _way_ more than that. But I only felt emotions that were quite dim, and fleeted almost as soon as they emerged within me. I explained this to Jasper and a look of worry crossed his face.

"Elita, I was trying with everything I had to make you fly into a fit of rage and then to make you really giddy and happy. And you felt… almost nothing?" there was a bit of anxiety in everyone's eyes. Great, now I was even more of a freak than we had originally thought. More of a freak than Mom or my brothers. And that was not exactly an accomplishment to be proud of.

I shook my head and fought the maddening tears that I felt pricking my eyes. My mom squeezed my hand and spoke, her voice unwavering for the first time all day, "Carlisle, I think we need to go into hiding."


	5. Plotting

"Hiding?" my voice cracked. The Volturi didn't seem like people to mess with. Wouldn't hiding just provoke them?

"You know, Bella, that might actually be a good idea…" Carlisle trailed off. "If you were to take the girls and hide for awhile, we could negotiate until …"

I cut Carlisle off. "No. Don't I get a say in this? I refuse to go into hiding. Won't that just make things worse?"

My mother looked at me angrily, but Carlisle remained his calm composure, "I don't know. But it might be the best we can do. At least it would give us some time for negotiation."

"Bells, I don't think you would be… appropriate protection for either of them. Even if you weren't over 40, you're human and this is a coven of very strong leech- er, vampires," my dad added.

"One of us would definitely need to go, as well," Esme put in.

Carlisle looked over at Edward whose face had turned stony. "No, Carlisle. I… can't," he whimpered. "I can't."

Carlisle watched Edward carefully, with a sympathetic look on his face. "Son, please. You would be her best protection." Edward's face was distraught. If he could've cried, I think he would've. I couldn't understand why he would refuse plain out. What was his problem with me?

Edward took a deep breath, "Okay, I'll do it. I'll be their protection."

My father stood up, rage spreading across his features. "Maybe that's not such a good idea."

"Jacob, honey, it's for the best. Edward is the fastest and one of the strongest, _and _he can read minds. He's the best hope for us," my mother reached for Dad's arm and pulled him down. Then she whispered, "Just behave, _please_. This is hard enough without you overreacting."

"Who else should we send with them? I don't want my daughters alone with just Edward," Jacob said and I stared at him incredulously. I had never seen my dad act like this before. He was normally all jokes and sarcasm; serious words rarely spewed from his mouth. He never really had much of a temper either. He'd only ever yelled at me twice that I could remembe and both times I had really deserved it.

Our living room was filled with tension and everyone just stared at one another, not sure if they should speak up, lest they be torn to pieces for a bad suggestion. Rosalie broke the silence first, "I'll go, Carlisle."

Both Bella and Edward stared at the beautiful blonde, eyes wide and mouths open. She looked at both of them fiercely and they promptly shut their jaws and averted their gaze. "Okay, Rose, you can go," Carlisle nodded at her.

"So, I guess Edward and Rose, you'll need to take the twins down south. We'll establish more later, but it's better if the rest of us don't know all the details, because of Aro. Bella and Jacob, Esme and Emmett will stay with you and be your protection. And I believe that leaves Alice, Jasper, and I to do the negotiating. Does this work for everyone?" We all nodded, and my mother shook with sobs. Edward flashed to her side.

"Bella, darling," he whispered, his hand on her shoulder. "Rose and I will make sure nothing harms your daughters. I promise," then, he leaned toward her ear and murmured something I couldn't quite make out. It sounded like he told her, "Your heart may not belong to me any longer, but I shall love you all the days of my life and I will do whatever it takes to keep you happy." That didn't make any sense, though. But then again, nothing about this day had made any sense.

My mother's round chocolate eyes found Edward's and I could see a spark of hope flicker in them for a moment as she nodded. She kissed his cheek and left the room.

"Girls," Edward addressed Allie and I. "Go hurry and pack whatever you might need. We want to leave by nightfall."

Allie fluttered around our room, nothing but a shaking, sniveling flash of dark hair and pink cloth. "Ellie, how much should we pack? I don't want to leave anything important, but packing heavy will just mean more for us to keep track of…" Alice fretted over her closet.

I grabbed an old backpack and put the essentials in it. I didn't really need that much. I grabbed two pairs of jeans and three tee shirts and stuffed them into my bag when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in," I called and in flew vampire Alice.

"Do you girls need help?" she asked in a voice that sounded like it could belong to a pixie.

"I think I'm good…" I told her, but Allie began to cry. "Yes, I need so much help. I'm just so frazzled…" she sniffled.

"Alright, I'll help you both," Alice grinned and rushed about our room. She flew around the tiny room so fast, she was nearly invisible. When she saw what I had packed, she clucked her tongue and muttered something about like mother, like daughter. Then, she unpacked and repacked my bag so fast, I couldn't even comprehend it. I looked through my stuff. Somehow, she had folded everything so tiny that she was able to fit several weeks worth of clothes in my backpack, instead of just outfits for two or three days.

Alice went over to my sister's closet next. For Allie, she made comments of approval as she searched and packed everything just as fast as she packed mine. When she was finished, Allie seized her in a bear hug. "You just saved me. Thank you so much."

"No problem," Pixie Alice told my sister. "Yeah, thanks," I mumbled awkwardly. I had never been good at showing my emotions. I got that from my grandfather Charlie. We both had a tendency to not say what we felt and if we did attempt to express ourselves, it just fell flat and everything became uncomfortable. Alice, however, didn't seem to be bugged by my social handicaps and hugged me anyways. She was colder than ice and firmer than any rock I had ever come across. But I found some comfort in our embrace.

"Let's hurry down, now, girls," she smiled as she let go of me. We ran down the stairs, the two Alices in front of me flitting down the stairs as graceful as butterflies, with me lumbering behind like a bumbling elephant.

When we got downstairs, I looked to find Edward first. His face portrayed that same awe and shock combination as earlier when he saw me. I stood close to my father, who put his arm around me.

Despite all my resemblances to my mother, I was always much closer to my father Jacob. My mother was too neurotic and such a perfectionist at times that I had a tough time being around her. My Dad was easier to pal around with; he had a wonderful sense of humor, always knew exactly what to say, and had a knack for knowing when I needed a McFlurry from McDonald's. So many times through middle school and my two years of high school, I would have a god-awful day and my dad could take one look at me and know that I needed my favorite treat. So he'd rush off to the closest McDonald's and bring me home an MnM McFlurry. Needless to say, my dad had always been there for me and I couldn't ever imagine a life without him. Because a world without my dad pretty much meant a world without me.

In order to pass the time until night fall, my mother busied herself in the kitchen, making food for us humans. My dad caught the Cullens up on everything he and my mother had been up to for the last nearly 25 years. He launched into his favorite stories of us when we were little: his first fishing trip with the boys, Alice's and I's first day of school, that night he left Charlie to tend to the stove and nearly burned down the house because he saw a cute girl on the sidewalk. My face blushed scarlet when he told them about the time he found me in my mother's closest trying on all of her lacy undergarments.

"It was the funniest thing I think I've ever seen. Here she is, a little seven year old girl ("I was five," I insisted.) wearing Bell's bras that are way too big for her, and shouts up at me, 'Daddy! I'm just like Mommy now!'" my dad just kills himself laughing at this and Emmett joined in his roaring as well. Personally, I never found it all that funny. But I guess it's just one of those things that only parents can really see the beauty in. Edward looked frustrated and pointedly looked away from my father, which made him laugh harder. From what I could figure out, my dad was probably thinking something that Edward found unpleasant and was trying to block it out of his head.

After my dad was finished summing up his life with Mom and us kids, Carlisle told us about how they'd been fairing ("Much of the same. Denali for nearly eleven years, Maine for about seven, then Oregon for four or five, and Isle Esme in between," he shrugs as if living in that amount of places in so few years Is no big deal whatsoever). My mother called us in for dinner and all the Cullens except for Carlisle left to go hunting.

As we sat down to dinner, my brothers Charlie and Billy burst through the backdoor. "Did you tell the pack?" Jacob asked them. They both nodded in unison and sat down, immediately devouring every speck of food on their plates and getting up for seconds. I know teenage boys are supposed to be hungry all the time, but wolfboys are even worse. They eat my mother out of house and home. She makes at least ten trips to the grocery store a week and still can't manage to keep both of our fridges and pantries filled. It's even worse when the rest of the wolves come over. It sheds a whole new light on the saying "And the wolves descend."

Despite the fact that it's a summer day, night came quicker than usual or so it seems. Maybe being its the last day of normalcy I'd be seeing in a while and I'm trying to savor it, it flew past me. Everything goes faster when you don't want it to.

The Cullens returned, their eyes all the brightest butterscotch color. "Are you girls ready to go?" Carlisle asks Alice and me. We both nodded slowly and interlaced our fingers together for a stronger connection. Edward and Rosalie grabbed our bags and I hugged my mother good-bye.

"Oh my sweet child," she cooed, holding me close. "Elita, dear, you'll be in safe hands. But stay safe. I love you too much to lose you."

I nodded into her hair, trying to memorize her smell. She always smelled like strawberries and pine, which sounds like a strange combination, but it was a comfort to me and was the best scent in the world. I hugged my father as well and he rumpled my hair. "Be a good girl, now, Ellie," he teased. I was always a good girl. I kissed his cheek and hugged my brothers quickly.

Edward and Rosalie stood holding the front door beckoning to my twin and me, and beyond them, an exciting new adventure awaited us.

_Author's note: So it has been pretty much forever since I last updated. Over the past few weeks, I've had the WORST writer's block I think I've ever had. I'm really finally beginning to get over it but I'm not holding my breath. The next chapter may be a long way off. But don't fret, I'll get it up eventually :). Oh, also I've been trying to finish this chapter late at night when I should be asleep, so if the grammar is awful or there are parts that don't make sense, please, please, please let me know! I've been considering getting a beta too (if anyone wants to beta for me, let me know), but I'm not all that serious about that yet. I think that's about it. And remember, reviews are what make the story happen. So review to your heart's content! _

_~Skye_


	6. On the Run

There are a few things in life that I would do literally anything for. To have that beautiful prom dress from that fancy French designer I admire. To never have to do math homework again. Or well, to never have to do any math ever. To be the girl that people look at and sigh, wishing that they were in my place. Or even, to find that one person who understands my whole being better than I do, a soul mate.

However, traveling around the world with a pair of vampires that claim to be good, moral beings and my twin sister, all the while running away from a group of evil, power-hungry blood-suckers is most definitely not on that list. Not even close. In fact, as adventurous and mysterious and dreamy as my current predicament may sound, I'd rather die several excruciatingly painful deaths than be stuck in this situation.

Why, you might ask? Well, I'll begin four days ago when we left home. It had all seemed so exciting then. So daring and different from my normal life. Just the thought of it used to excite me. But the glamour of it faded after only a few short days. First off, my sister, Alice, has gotten whinier by the moment. She is constantly complaining about how she misses home and her friends and how she's breaking out all over her face because of the poor living conditions and how she feels several fever blisters coming on from all

the stress. And then, when you tell her to shut up, she still screams these complaints in her thoughts, making Edward and I wince from her griping. Believe me, travelling with my sister is no fairy tale. Rosalie is the most cordial one out of the group, though to say she is cordial truly shows how bad everything is. Rosalie is beautiful and can be sweet when she chooses, but has a complaining streak just like Allie. The good thing about Rose, however, is that when she stops talking I can't hear her, Which makes her my favorite.

And then, there's Edward. Dear, dear Eddy. Where to even begin? He's arrogant and moodier than any girl I've ever known, and that's saying something. He has such an awful temper, too. And then, there is how sometimes he can't even look at me, much less talk to me, for some odd reason that I can't fathom. But, for whatever reason, he can talk and look at Allie just fine. I guess I'm just not pretty enough for when he does look at me sometimes, I always seem to be too amazed, scared even, as Rosalie glares daggers at him for reasons unfathomable to me. It feels as if, despite their reassurances, they think of me as a freak in any case. But to show it mildly, yet outwardly nonetheless, does hurt me sometimes.

But despite all those hideous flaws of his, I feel like there's something in me being pulled towards him, a gravitational force I can neither deny nor destroy. It's positively hopeless.

* * *

"Can we stop and get some food? I'm starving," Alice moaned as we drove along the long expanse of highway. I wasn't quite sure where we were, being as I'd just woken up. Most of our days were spent driving. Even though both Rosalie and Edward drove like maniacs, we still hadn't reached our so called safe destination, wherever it was. We were supposed to get on a plane somewhere in Texas, and then, we'd finally get to where we were going.

I sat up in my seat and looked out the window as Edward grumbled something inaudibly. It was sunrise from what I could tell, and the world was just beginning to awaken. The sky was barely lit; the sun just poking its bright head up from the other side of the world. There was a mottle of pink here and there across the wide expanse of purple sky. We flew by the many forests and farms that dotted the sides of the interstate. It was beautiful, I noted, the colors all rushing together to make a gorgeous collage, the world spinning around me as we sped past it all.

"Ellie." Alice shook my shoulder roughly, and I looked over at her, not happy for my moment of peace's abrupt ending. "What do you want for breakfast?"

I shrugged, "I don't care. All fast food restaurants are the same in my mind: greasy and unappealing."

Rosalie shot me a look. Gosh, that girl could scare a lion. "Elita, once we get where we're going, you won't have to deal with fast food anymore. But until then, can't you just deal with it?"

"Sure, sure, I can deal," I grumbled, pulling my blanket around me and shutting my eyes in the hopes of falling back to sleep. But, no dice. I couldn't sleep with Alice's debating on whether or not we should stop at McDonald's or Sonic sounding through the car.

"Why don't we go somewhere different for a change? It seems to me there's a nice diner around here that I've heard about from locals when I've been here before. Would that suit you better, Elita?" Edward asked, his eyes never leaving the road and his face expressionless.

"Yeah, that's fine, I guess. Where are we exactly?"

"Stagg, Texas. Just outside of El Paso," Edward said, as he turned into an exit. "After breakfast, we can drive the thirty or so minutes to the El Paso airport and get on the plane."

Finally, it looked like all this tortuous driving was coming to an end. We pulled into the diner's parking lot. The cheesy sign glowed dimly in the early morning light.

**'Rosita's 24/7 Diner: Best Egg Sandwiches in Town!'**

The place was falling apart, to say the least. The windows were murky; several letters were burned out in the sign, making it difficult to read. 'A nice diner' he had said. The place looked like it might have been 'a nice diner' during World War I. Oh yeah, Edward, this place was going to be great.

"Well, girls, why don't you go on in and order something?" Edward suggested, as he and Rosalie got out of the car with such ease and grace. Meanwhile, I stumbled out of the car, my legs still wobbly like a newborn fawn's from sitting for so long. Damn vampires.

"Aren't you coming with us?" Alice asked, her eyes wide and anxious.

"No, actually, we're going to go hunt," Rosalie tilted her head toward the forest on the other side of the main road.

"Oh," I whispered, suddenly a bit scared as well.

"You'll be fine. Just go in and have something to eat. We'll be no more than two miles away and we can get here faster than you'd ever believe if there is any trouble, okay?" Edward smirked at my unconvinced expression.

I lifted my gaze to meet his and forced as much bravado into my voice as I can muster. "We'll be perfectly fine, I'm sure. Alice and I can take care of ourselves, thank you very much."

Edward's eyes glinted with amusement, but I turned and pulled a reluctant Alice into the café before I could hear him laugh.

We sat down at a booth far in the corner of the resteraunt. The black formica tabletop was peeling at the corners, and the turquoise-colored pleather had tears and patches on nearly every inch of it.

A woman in a pink waitress uniform walked up to us. "Hi, I'm Lizel. I'm going to be your server today," she grinned, her smile as white as brand-new snow. Something about her was unsettling. She was so beautiful and young- maybe fifteen or sixteen, with sandy curls and petite features. Her skin was awfully pale, though instead of detracting from her beauty-like my paleness did for me-, it made her lovelier still.

Then I noticed her eyes. That same strange butterscotch color of Edward and Rosalie's eyes. Lizel was a vampire.

Allie noticed too. _Holy crap. Edward sent us to a restaurant filled with vampires._

_Chill out, Alice. There's only one vamp_.

_Think again, my dear. Look around. Notice how every single employee has the same pale skin and gold eyes? Yeah, this place is CRAWLING with them._

Sure enough, I thought, as my eyes scanned the restaurant. Every server and cook had those same vampire characteristics: flawless beauty, pale skin, inhuman eyes. Though they all seemed to be "vegetarian" vampires, I still felt uneasy.

"You're a vampire," I blurted out to Lizel without thinking. She looked anxiously over at an elderly obviously human couple dining a few booths down.

"Yes, I am. You must be Edward's wards. He told me to keep an eye out for you," she said, attempting to hide a giggle provoked by some memory of hers.

_Edward's __**wards?**__ Honestly? _Alice snickered in my head.

"Right. Um, so vampires can run a restaurant?" I asked, thinking the whole thing utter rubbish.

"Sure. I mean, Carlisle can work in the ER, but not all of us are cut out for that. And we have to find some way to make a living, right?"

"I guess so."

"Most of us were involved in the culinary field before we became vampires. I, for one, was a scullery maid for a wealthy family back in 1812. Believe me, this job beats _that_, any day. We all still like to work with food and serve it to people, even if we can no longer enjoy it ourselves. Anyways, enough about me. What would you girls like to eat?"

"I'll take an egg sandwich with a coke, please," Alice told her. "Oh, and an order of hash browns, too."

"I'll have the same."

Lizel quickly jotted this down and buzzed off to the kitchen. Our food was out and ready in record time. It was still scorching hot when it arrived, though, so Alice and I had to wait to eat.

But once it had cooled down and I took a bite, I realized that their sign was correct: the egg sandwich really was the best I'd ever had. It was so good, as were the hash browns. I chewed appreciatively, and Alice was silent for once.

The diner door chimed open, and I looked up, only to see Rosalie and Edward walk in. Lizel squealed and gave Edward a running hug. He barely hugged her back, before shrugging away from her overeager arms. Lizel looked a little embarrassed. If she were still human, I have no doubt her cheeks would be bright red. Edward and Rosalie walked over to where Alice and I were sitting. Rosalie slid in next to Alice across from me, which left Edward to sit beside me. Lucky me.

"Are you girls nearly ready to go?" Edward asked.

Alice wiped her hand across her mouth. "Sure thing."

I nodded vigorously, more than ready to get out of there. Being in a diner full of blood-suckers was making me feel uneasy.

I took a quick look at Lizel as we stood up to leave. She was standing in the corner, talking rapidly to another female vampire. She looked really upset, and her friend seemed to be trying to comfort her.

And then, we set off for the El Paso airport, leaving vampire diners and sulking ex-scullery maids turned waitresses behind us.

**Author's note: I finally got a chapter up, hurray! I hope you guys didn't think I was gone for good. I'm still here and hopefully, I'll be updating a lot more in the coming weeks. Just as a sidenote: Stagg, Texas doesn't exist. I made it up, along with Rosita's diner. And I've never been to El Paso, so I'm not really sure what it's like there, which is my reason for making up a town. But anyways, I'm back and I'm hoping to be writing all this week and putting up the next couple chapters soon. Oh, and I would love to thank XxDark-maiden201xX for looking over this chapter for me.**** I appreciate it lots :) Please review! It'll make me super happy and will earn you imaginary brownie points :)**


	7. Inquiries

On the plane, Edward and I were forced to sit together, with Rosalie and Alice on the other side. I kept trying to fall asleep, but Edward's arm kept bumping mine, and it was too cold for comfort. So, we just sat awkwardly until I decided that we needed to have some sort of a conversation going.

"So, how do you know Lizel?" I asked him, looking at his face to see his reaction.

A hint of a smile showed in the corners of his mouth, and he laughed quietly. "She's an ex-girlfriend of sorts."

"Of sorts?"

"Lizel was just sort of a way to get over someone else," he explained, shutting his eyes as if he was tired, though I knew he couldn't be.

"Well, that's not very nice. To use her just so you could get over another girl."

"Hmm, perhaps not. But if you had seen me then, you would've realized that it was necessary."

"And why is that?"

Edward hesitated, but then pressed on with a desperate fury. "Because the girl I thought I was going to marry and spend the rest of eternity with had forsaken me and chosen a dog instead."

"Really."

"Really," he replied, his bright gold eyes staring at me intently.

"So, was Lizel like a one-night stand or something?" I asked, not wanting to end the conversation.

"I've never had a one-night stand."

"I don't believe you."

"No?"

"Nope," I told him. "You're a vampire. You've been alive for God-know-how-long…"

"129 years altogether," he cut in.

"So for over one hundred years, you've only had real relationships. Not a single one-night stand?"

"Not one," he smiled. "I like to think of myself as a moral being."

"Sure, sure, whatever you think," I mumbled. "Have you ever…" I insinuated, but couldn't bring myself to say what I was thinking about.

Edward chuckled, "You're a lot bolder than your mother, but even so, you can't bring yourself to ever say what you mean without blushing and stammering. I'll save us both the embarrassment. No, I haven't."

I glanced over at him. "Once again, I don't believe you. Though I must say, you are an awfully good liar."

"What makes you think I'm lying?" he said, looking deep into my eyes. If I had been blushing before, now it had to be even worse. I could feel my entire face and neck flush with blood.

"That just seems impossible. A 129-year-old virgin? You've never given into temptation? Wasn't there anyone you ever wanted to… do it with?"

He paused, whether for effect or embarrassment I couldn't tell. He stroked his jaw thoughtfully. "There was one, but like I said, she wouldn't marry me. I try to uphold a sense of honor, respect, and morality."

"Oh, please, Edward. 'Honor, respect, and morality.' No one says stuff like that anymore," I argued. I honestly could not believe that in all his years of life, in all his years of being this irresistibly gorgeous, he had abstained.

"Perhaps not, but you forget how old I am. That's how I was raised, Elita. Can't we change the subject?"

I grumbled, "Sure. What would you like to talk about, Edward?"

"Your name. Why did Bella choose it? It's so… different but beautiful."

"Well," I stuttered a bit, surprised by his sincerity when he said my name was beautiful. Most people just thought it was weird. "It means 'chosen one.' I don't really know why my mom chose it. I guess she thought I would be special, though I'm sure I've sorely disappointed her on that one."

"Don't think like that, Elita. You and your mother both- always doubting yourselves and your abilities. You are special. After all, aren't the Volturi chasing after you for that very reason?"

I shrugged. "I suppose so. I just don't really see it. But I guess we never see the good in ourselves, only flaws." Edward nodded, but didn't offer anything else. "I have a question for you now."

"And that is?"

"Why do you keep comparing me to my mother? If you knew her so well, why weren't you ever around while I was growing up? Why did she look like she'd seen a ghost when you walked in- her entire happy façade crumbling as you came into her line of sight?"

"That's three questions, Ellie," he said, holding up three of his perfectly proportioned pale fingers. "But, all very good ones."

**Author's note: Very short, I know. Sorry! Another chapter will be posted soon, I'm thinking this Friday at the latest. Review? **


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